The Final Condition
by SamoaPhoenix9
Summary: There was one final condition to the curse no one but the Beast knew about. A response to a fanfic prompt on the "Bittersweet and Strange" forum.


The Beast watched Belle ride away for the last time. He let out a roar of despair. In part it was because he knew he'd never see the woman he loved again, and in part because of the last terrible secret he'd managed to keep even from the servants.

-0-0-0-

He'd been on his knees when he'd felt the curse take effect. In a few moments of agony he'd transformed from a young man in fine clothes into a horrible, hairy monster. He didn't need a mirror—he _knew_ what he was. As he was on all fours, breathing in great gasps, trying to convince himself it was all a dream, the old hag—or no, she was now a beautiful woman with golden hair—got on her own knees before him. She took his head in her hands and forced him to look at her.

As if she'd read his thoughts, she produced a small hand mirror from somewhere on her person. Still keeping one hand in an iron grip on his chin, she forced him to look into it. He moaned and tried to turn away when he saw the reflection, but her hand wouldn't let him, even though in theory he should now be far stronger than she.

"It was better known in the old days to open a home to a weary traveler, in case they be one of the Fay," she whispered. "As it is, you've caught me in a generous mood. I've not wiped you from the face of the earth for your discourtesy to one of the Great Ones of Faerie. I take it you've at least heard of Titania?"

"The Faerie Queen," he whispered in his new, roughened voice. He'd read a translation of Shakespeare's _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, at least, but this woman seemed not in the least likely to be tricked into falling in love with a man with an ass's head.

"Indeed." Her eyes flashed a poisonous green. "But, as I said, I'm feeling generous. This spell doesn't have to be permanent. I've seen there is love for no one in your heart. Even I know love for another, and the power it holds. Learn to love, and earn her love in return before the last petal of the rose I offered falls, and the spell will be lifted. Fail, and you'll be doomed to remain a Beast for all time. I leave you the rose and this mirror." Both objects she placed on the floor in front him, where they flashed with the power of her magic.

She leaned even closer to whisper into his ear. Had his hearing not been enhanced to that of an animal he might not have heard her. "But beware, prince. A heart is not given lightly, particularly not a heart under a Fay curse of this magnitude. If once you fall in love, you will be tied to her while the spell endures. If you cannot earn her love in return, if ever she leaves you, then your life force will begin to fade. Within a day or perhaps two, you'll be dead."

She let him go and stood up. He sagged to the floor and saw that, incongruously, beneath her heavily ornamented green robe, her feet were bare.

Fay indeed.

Then she vanished.

-0-0-0-

The Beast had told the servants everything the woman had said to him—except the final condition. It was his own private pain to deal with. And he knew when he let Belle go what the consequences would be. But because he loved her, he knew he couldn't cage her. He couldn't force her to promise to return. He wanted what was best for her. He wanted her to be happy. Even if it meant his own life.

The swiftness with which he weakened frightened him. He sat by the rose, not sure which would finish him first: the curse or the agony of being without Belle. When Mrs. Potts arrived to tell him of the invasion, he could only tell her to let the men come, hoping that would finish him sooner than the curse would. Even if he had wanted to, he couldn't have found the strength to fight the handsome, muscular man who finally did make his way to the West Wing. The man was able to kick him around like an enormous, floppy rag doll.

And then, at the last minute, when the man was about to club the Beast to death…

"No!"

The Beast looked over the roof and saw the one thing his heart had been longing for: Belle. Returned. Muddy and bedraggled and her hair a mess, but there was no sight dearer to him in the world. "Belle!" he managed to gasp.

"No, Gaston! Don't!" she screamed.

Strength abruptly flooded back into the Beast. With it, he was able to get out from under the club's downswing and seize it with one paw in a blur of motion. Suddenly he was again every inch the powerful Beast he looked.

Even his opponent—Gaston—looked frightened for a moment.

The impossible had happened. Belle had returned. The Fay curse had begun to reverse and it had restored his strength.

Maybe, just maybe, there was hope the rest of it could be reversed as well.

* * *

_Author's Note: This short fic is a response to a prompt on the Bittersweet and Strange forum: "Reinterpret a scene from the movie in a way it wasn't meant to be interpreted." It was influenced by my musings about the original fairy tale, wherein Beauty returns from her weeklong (or monthlong, depending on the version) absence to find the Beast inexplicably dying. In most versions he's warned her this will be the consequence if she is late. Why? Is it some kind of twisted condition of the enchantment on him? Did he stop eating when she left (which in my humble opinion shows very little faith in her)? Did he become severely depressed when it looks like she isn't coming back which makes it look like he's dying? Obviously he hasn't taken a more drastic measure to kill himself or he'd be dead already since Beauty is usually a day late at least. I took the first idea-that it was a condition of the spell-and applied it to the Disney version. I also seem to be on a the-Enchantress-didn't-intend-good-with-the-curse kick recently. Many old tales have fairies, witches and magicians punishing those who don't show common courtesy to strangers in incredibly harsh ways (see "Diamonds and Toads" as an example), so I added that element to the story as well._

_This has nothing to do with any of my other Beauty and the Beast stories, it's completely set in the Disney universe with no alterations._

_SamoaPhoenix9_


End file.
